Teachers demand DeLay's support for social security benefits

Published 6:00 pm, Monday, December 1, 2003

The rally was sponsored by the Fort Bend Employee Federation, a local affiliate of the Texas Federation of Teachers.

When rally attendees were presented with punch and cookies, it prompted some to chant, "We don't want cookies, we want dough," according to Amy Collier, of the Texas Federation of Teachers.

"We had a wonderful rally," says John O'Sullivan, secretary and treasurer of the TFT.

"We had 450 teachers show up from the Houston area, and they are upset, and rightfully so. They are learning from their spouses and social security that they aren't going to receive their own earned benefits for the ones that earned their own 10 years of service, and they aren't going to earn their spousal benefits, and they are mad about it. They want to pass the Social Security Fairness Act House Bill, and they want Tom DeLay to get out of the way."

While according to the TFT the bill has 277 co-sponsors, DeLay has not allowed the bill to be voted on. The Social Security Fairness Act would repeal both the Governmental Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision.

"As the husband of a former teacher, I am fully aware of the sacrifices teachers make on behalf of our children," reads a statement issued by DeLay.

"I applaud their efforts, and I respect their right to fully understand legislation that affects them. But the truth is, our teachers have been misled to believe they are getting the short end of the Social Security stick because of the Government Pension Offset. The current law allows Texas teachers, and all who pay into a government pension plan, to rec-eive the same, if not better, benefits than they would receive under Social Security alone."

The Government Pension Offset applies to spousal Social Security Benefits, which according to the TFT reduces the amount a survivor is eligible to receive by two-thirds of the amount the surviving spouse is eligible to receive through their own government pension plan.

According to a statement released by the office of DeLay, teachers have the better end of that deal, as surviving spouses who paid into Social Security get a 100 percent offset.

"The GPO applies to all spouses who do not pay into Social Security but pay into an alternative government pension," reads a "myth and facts" sheet prepared by DeLay's office.

"It was enacted in 1977 to preserve the original intent of the spousal benefit, which was to ensure a benefit for spouses who never worked outside the home."

"By that logic," says O'Sullivan, "we could argue that if someone were receiving a pension form Dow Chemical, and if their benefits were greater than their Social Security, they shouldn't receive the Social Security Benefits. Why should our pension from the state of Texas that we paid for have a damn thing to do with what our pension is from the Social Security Administration from the federal government?"

DeLay says he has recently met with school district officials to come to an understanding on the issue.

"I recently held a meeting with 25 Houston area school district officials where I brought in representatives from the Social Security Administration and the Teacher Retirement System of Texas to clarify this complicated issue. It's my sincere hope that this misunderstanding will soon be laid to rest.